Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that, effective May 1, 2012, Carter G. Phillips will become the Co-Chair of the Firm’s Executive Committee, the Committee of the Firm that exercises general authority over its policies and affairs. Thomas A. Cole, who is in his 15th year as Chair of the Executive Committee and who turns 65 in 2013, will continue as Co-Chair for a one-year transitional period.
“I am delighted that our Executive Committee has chosen Carter to be my successor,” said Mr. Cole. “His prominence as the leading U.S. appellate lawyer, his proven management skills as the leader of our 275-lawyer Washington office for 17 years and the fact that he is an exemplar of our storied firm culture, all make him the clear choice. When the baton pass has been completed in 12-months’ time, I look forward to having even more time to serve clients on M&A and corporate governance assignments.”
“I am truly honored and humbled to be asked to succeed Tom Cole as the Chair of the Firm’s Executive Committee in 2013,” said Mr. Phillips. “Tom, along with Chuck Douglas as Chair of the Management Committee, has transformed Sidley into a law firm with a powerful global footprint while retaining a collaborative and supportive culture that is the envy of most professional organizations.” Commenting on how easy it will be to make this transition, Mr. Phillips observed that, “I have had the pleasure of working with Tom on the Executive Committee for the past 18 years and look forward to working even more closely with him during this coming year.” He continued, “I do intend to stay in DC and, in keeping with our tradition and the example set by Tom, will continue to maintain an active practice during my tenure as the Chair of the Executive Committee.”
Mr. Phillips, age 59, graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University and magna cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law. He clerked for Warren E. Burger, the Chief Justice of the United States, taught at the University of Illinois College of Law and was an Assistant to the Solicitor general in the United States Department of Justice before joining Sidley in 1984. With Rex Lee, Mr. Phillips launched Sidley’s appellate practice and he has argued 76 cases before the Supreme Court, more than any other lawyer in private practice. He also has argued more than 100 cases in other appellate courts. Mr. Phillips is a member of the American Law Institute, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, is a member of the Federal Circuit Advisory Council and was the Chair of the Council from 2003-2005, and he is a trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society. He received the 2001 Rex Lee Advocacy Award, the Northwestern University Alumni Merit Award in 1998, the Northwestern University Alumni Service Award in 2006, the Ohio State Alumni Professional Achievement Award in 2007, and the Honorary Degree Doctor of Public Service from The Ohio State University in 2011. He also has been an adjunct Professor of Law at Northwestern University Law School for the past four years, teaching a seminar on Supreme Court practice and co-heading a student clinic that handles actual cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of indigent clients.
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s premier full-service law firms, with approximately 1700 lawyers practicing in 18 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. This year, Sidley celebrates 30 years in Asia. Repeating its performance in the inaugural 2010 survey, Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings of any U.S. law firm in the 2011/12 U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey. Sidley was also named the U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Law Firm of the Year” in both Corporate Law and Securities Regulation in the 2011/12 survey (the first year of such designations). BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only three firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and as number one in three of those years.
For more information:
Janet Zagorin, Client Service Officer, 212.839.8797
Peter Pochna, Rubenstein Associates, 212.843.8007
(Press Release by Sidley Austin)
